It all comes down to your attitude about giving. You and I are first asked to give ourselves in order to become a disciple of Jesus. Then we are asked to give to others without regard as to how much we give, the more the better. I believe that when we have the Go-Giver attitude about giving, it isnt how much we give and to whom we give that matters, it is that we Go-Give that excites our souls.

Speaker: Mike NobisSunday School Teacher, Former Elder at Madison Park Christian Church. Mike is President of JK Creative Printers & Mailing in Quincy, IL. He is married to Pam and has three children, Tom, Tyler and Jennifer. Mike has three grandchildren: Ryne, Ivy and Alicia.

It was interesting this week talking with several of you after class, in church or throughout the week to hear your reaction to our lesson last week on Go-Giving and the Law of Value. For many of you I know I left your heads spinning and I apologize for that. Understanding the concepts of giving from God’s point of view is very hard if the world is your standard for many ways of thinking. I am not saying that many of you are worldly; it is just hard to keep two opposing views on the same subject straight from on another.

As we live in the world, often times we have to think like the world thinks to survive but when it comes to spiritual things, spiritual thinking is required and it is totally opposite the world in most things. It is hard to shift quickly in quick changing situations. But once the concept of Go-Giving is your natural behavior, it is rather easy.

The first law in becoming a Go-Giver is this:

“Your true worth is determined
by how much more you give in value
than you take in payment”

Or to put it another way, your true worth is determined by how much more you give than you receive from others in return. In the real business world, this is an almost impossible concept to accept. The life blood of a company is profit. I have to take in more than goes out or else I won’t have the finances necessary to operate, expand or grow new customers bringing in more profit. But with God, the concept is the opposite. It is not what you receive that matters in life; it is what you give away. In fact, the emphasis is on “how much more you give” that makes the whole difference.

Christians are supposed to be people whose whole focus is on Jesus and because of that fact, we are more concerned for others than ourselves. The priority is Jesus first, others second and ourselves last. We all understand this in theory but when it comes to practical application, the opposite is usually the norm. The Law of Value states something that is hard for people to do; don’t just settle for what is expected, go beyond what is expected and give more.

Luke 6:32-36 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

The first law deals with just how valuable you are to others. In other words, what is your potential success and how much can you accomplish for others with no regard for how much you get back in return. There is one warning with the first law, no matter the value you generate, that does not mean that what you receive will increase. But if you are not concentrating on what you receive back, when it doesn’t come, it doesn’t matter and isn’t important. But when it does come, it is a pleasant blessing to the receiver

Luke 6:37-38 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

“We make a living by what we get out of life, but we make a life by what we give.”

How many of you this week worked to give more in value to someone than you actually received back? How and what did you do? In reality, how hard is this to do every day? What are the obstacles that can get in our way trying to live this kind of lifestyle?

I’ve noticed as I have observed people who do this all the time, the one thing that they have that I don’t seem to have yet, they enjoy giving. They enjoy giving so much that any thing they receive in return is of no concern.

How does a person get that way? How does a person learn how to enjoy giving everything away all the time…to run a “receiving deficit”? How can a person gain if he is always giving everything away?

All of this leads to the 2nd Law in Go-Giving: The Law of Compensation

Someone define for me what compensation is? How many of you are worth what you are paid?
How many of you are worth more? How many of you are worthless? When it comes to giving, how many of you are worth what you receive? What does that mean?

The Law of Compensation:

What you receive is determined
by how many people you serve
and how well you serve them

To put it another way, what you receive back is proportional to how many lives you touch.

I always thought that it was unfair how move stars and our modern athletes make in compensation. It is hard to justify how a single person can be worth $30 million dollars for three years like Milton Bradley is after agreeing to a contract with the Cubs this week. No man is worth that amount yet there are several people who make way more than that. For the average person, this is hard to comprehend.

But people who do great work, noble work like school teachers never get paid what they are actually worth. The same is true for nurses who tend to our needs and many others who do work of great value but don’t get compensated for their true worth. What is important to note about all this is, it is not about your value, it is a question about your impact. What impact have you left on the lives of those you served?

A man leaves all kinds of footprints when he walks through life. Some you can see, like his children and his house. Others are invisible, like the prints he leaves across other people's lives: the help he gives them and what he has said-his jokes, gossip that has hurt others, encouragement. A man doesn't think about it, but everywhere he passes, he leaves some kind of mark. Margaret Lee Runbeck

God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing he is. Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

Someone said last week all this talk about Go-Giving sounds like the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In many respects it is. You have to ask yourself, what would the world be like if I were never born. How would things be different? How different would other people be? Sadly, many might say, I am not that important and I doubt there would be little change. But everyone has some impact in life. Everyone leave some sort of imprint in the pages of history. We have greater impact than we actually think. That was the main theme of the whole movie.

Ephesians 4:11-12 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

Being a Christian, every one of us are been given at least one ministry, one work of service to perform in the kingdom. The reason for this is so we can have impact on someone. The whole purpose is to build up the church so all of us attain maturity and fullness in Jesus. But what happens if you go missing? How will your absence affect the church and its overall ministry?

I want each of you to think a minute about one of your ministry works you perform at MPCC or somewhere in the kingdom of God. If you don’t have one, you need to find one quickly. Are you worth what you get compensated for?

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. Ralph Waldo Emerson

As an employer, I am amazed how many and most employees think. Maybe you are the same way; there are many who try to get paid the maximum by doing the least amount of work. Do what is expected but expect to get highly compensated. What most employees don’t understand is, many times their compensation is in their control. The rich today, I mean the very rich have an attitude that there are no limits on how much they can earn in life. They go out with the intent and hard work to earn all that that want and more.

There are two amazing things about giving and the compensation from it:

1. You get to determine your level of compensation – It is under your control. If you want more success in your ministry, find a way to serve more people.

2. It also means there are no limitations on what you can receive. You can always find more people to serve. Everyone can be successful because anybody can serve.

Giving makes a lot of people nervous. Today in our society, there are many people out begging to be served. Everywhere you turn, someone is asking for you to give. During Christmas, you can’t enter a store without being confronted by someone ringing a bell expecting you to give money as you leave. Then there are those who seek to take advantage of your generosity. It just seems there are those out there who try to ruin the whole idea of giving for everyone.

It all comes down to your attitude about giving. You and I are first asked to give ourselves in order to become a disciple of Jesus. Then we are asked to give to others without regard as to how much we give, the more the better. I believe that when we have the Go-Giver attitude about giving, it isn’t how much we give and to whom we give that matters, it is that we Go-Give that excites our souls. It think this explains Paul response to some of the bad things that were happening to him while in prison.

Philippians 1:15-18 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

How does one develop the gift to rejoice when taken advantage of in giving? As a Go-Giver, what is the remedy to fix the problem? Serve more. Find more people to serve. Increase your compensation by giving more.

Do you know why people really get nervous about serving, if they allow themselves to become fully successful in their giving to others, it could get way out of control. Once others find out that you are willing to give and serve, a long line will develop of others wanting your help. Go-Getters immediately start thinking about profit and loss. What will it cost me and what will I get out of it. If there is a loss, it is not worth doing. Go-Getters care only for self, not others so they won’t make the investment if it doesn’t profit them.

Go-Givers are different, their challenge is to figure out how to give more and meet all the needs. Their drive is to experience the joy from serving so many people. It is like a rush for them to give all they have and see if they truly can out give God. They love it when you try to out give them. The fun is in the giving but the rewards are beyond anyone’s comprehension. The compensation can’t be measured.